Some contend that it is the identical church which William of
Malmesbury tells us St. Aldhelm built at Bradford-on-Avon about 700
A.D., others assert that it cannot be earlier than the tenth century.
It was a monastic cell attached to the Abbey of Malmesbury, but
Ethelred II gave it to the Abbess of Shaftesbury in 1001 as a secure
retreat for her nuns if Shaftesbury should be threatened by the
ravaging Danes. We need not describe the building, as it is well
known. Our artist has furnished us with an admirable illustration of
it. Its great height, its characteristic narrow Saxon doorways, heavy
plain imposts, the string-courses surrounding the building, the
arcades of pilasters, the carved figures of angels are some of its
most important features. It is cheering to find that amid so much that
has vanished we have here at Bradford a complete Saxon church that
differs very little from what it was when it was first erected.
[Illustration: Saxon Doorway in St. Lawrence's Church,
Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts.]
Other Saxon remains are not wanting. Wilfrid's Crypt at Hexham, that
at Ripon, Brixworth Church, the church within the precincts of Dover
Castle, the towers of Barnack, Barton-upon-Humber, Stow, Earl's
Barton, Sompting, Stanton Lacy show considerable evidences of Saxon
work.
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